Projects

XD Consulting builds on a long list of projects in which its people have been involved, some of them landmark but all of them coming from a unique source of experience – and added value for the customer.

The project has produced a Regional Guide for Regional Authorities and is organising a series of training workshops, covering the planning and technical design aspect of developing and operating a RES district heating project providing a unique opportunity for participants to gain an insight into the Danish experience of designing and deploying successfully district heating with renewable energy.

XD Consulting is working within the INOGATE programme (an international energy co-operation programme between the European Union and the Partner Countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Xavier travelled to Moldova in March 2014 to present to the different partners the role of Sustainable Energy Information Centres in the deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies across Europe, and reflected on his experience as technical manager of the Renewable Energy Information Office of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The REIO was awarded ‘Best National Renewable Energy Partnership’ in 2004 as part of the EU Campaign for Take-Off Award. A copy of Xavier’s presentation is available here. He is assisting in the establishment of a Sustainable Energy Information Office due to open in Moldova and Georgia in 2016.

Local Energy Planning

Kerry Sustainable Energy Community Roadmap

Limerick Clare Energy Plan

Client:Limerick Clare Energy AgencyDate: 2011-2012 The objective of this study was to develop an action plan for the transition of the Limerick-Clare Region to a sustainable energy system between now and 2020, based on:

an extensive assessment of current and future energy demand, and associated emissions;

renewable energy resource analysis for the region;

modelling of alternative energy systems and analysis of economic, environmental and resource use impacts.

The study also models long-term scenarios of 100% renewable energy supply to illustrate how 2020 plans contribute to a full transition to a low-carbon energy future. Key conclusions include:

The Limerick-Clare region can produce 70% of its electricity and 25% of its total energy demand from renewable sources by 2020, while reducing costs, emissions and creating 2000 local jobs;

A significant focus should be given to thermal energy, with district heating in urban areas and individual heat pumps in rural areas as key technical solutions;

While there is approximately 10 times more renewable energy in the region than will be required in 2020, the biomass resource is constrained and its use should be optimised.

Greenworks

Client:CultivateDate: 2010-2011. Green Works, a nationwide educational programme offered free courses to jobseekers, with a focus on upskilling the workforce for the growing opportunities within Ireland’s Green Economy. As part of Green Works students availed of a large variety of themed courses, FETAC certificates, workshops, work placements, lectures, networking and much more. The project was a collaborative project of: Cultivate, NICER Training, Syspro, Woodrow Solutions and Glas Learning. Green Works was funded by the Department of Education and Skills through the Labour Market Activation Fund with support from The European Social Fund. XD Consulting helped develop training material and delivered a series of one-day to week-long courses on low-energy design, ecological buildings and renewable energy systems. Link: http://cultivate.ie/gw/ Tags: training, education

Renewable Energy Conference and Trade Mission

This conference was organised by the GICC with a view to sharing know-how and boosting trade partnerships between Germany and Ireland in the field of renewable energy and in particular bioenergy technologies such as anaerobic digestion.The event took place in UCD in Dublin and was very well attended. It offered a great platform for business networking and exchange of ideas, and was followed by two-days of B-2-B meetings between the German delegation and potential Irish business partners. XD Consulting was contracted by the Chamber to carry out market research, identify key players in Ireland, recruit German technology and services providers, as well as support business match-making activities. Link: http://www.german-irish.ie/en/events/ Tags: Communication, Networking, Market Reseach

Ventilation, the Poor Relative of Energy Retrofits

Industry-Led Study Demonstrates The Need For Upgrading Our Approach To Ventilation As We Make Our Houses More AirtightClient:Construct Ireland MagazineDate: 2011

In this article, Xavier Dubuisson reviews a study carried out by AERECO, a French manufacturer of demand-controlled ventilation systems, on the impact of energy retrofitting houses on indoor air quality (IAQ). The study simulated the impact of increasing levels of airtightness for typical residential units undergoing energy retrofit in Ireland, considering the effectiveness of various ventilation strategies on IAQ indicators such as CO2, relative humidity, VOC concentrations, etc. as well as heat losses. The study contains very important lessons that should be given serious consideration by the regulator, relevant agencies, specifiers and ventilation solution providers:

retrofitting houses poses a real challenge to indoor air quality as the airtightness of refurbished properties increases;

conventional methods of wall vents and intermittent fans appear to not deal adequately with moisture levels in wet rooms;

closing or blocking wall vents to preserve thermal comfort has dramatic consequences for air quality in houses.

the benefits of combining airtightness and efficient mechanical ventilation solutions such as DC-MEV and MVHR are clearly demonstrated;

dynamic simulation allows to compare the performance of different ventilation systems reliabily, at a fraction of the cost of monitoring studies, and almost instantaneously.

UCD’s Roebuck Student Residence

The largest Certified Passive House building in Ireland and UK. Clients:University College DublinCompletion Date: September 2010

Source: Kavanagh Tuite Architects.

The winner of the sustainability award at the 2011 Irish Architecture awards, Roebuck Castle student residence at UCD’s Belfield campus is also the biggest certified passive house project built to date in Ireland and the UK. The student residence is a six-storey detached building with a 4,300 square meter floor area, and hosts 132 students. The building has an ultra-low energy demand (12 kWh/m2,year for space heating) due to a high performance building envelope and efficient building services, including a 160 m2 drain-back solar water heating system. It also makes extensive use of ecological materials in the construction and furnishing of the building. Xavier Dubuisson, now managing director of XD Consulting, was on the design team as Passive House specialist at DWEcoCo together with Delap & Waller and Kavanagh Tuite Architects. Xavier carried out the energy balance calculations (with PHPP), advised on the building fabric specification and detailing for a high level of airtightness and low thermal-bridging, and assisted with the solar thermal system design. “Xavier is a very knowledgable, helpful, and expert building sustainability consultant, who I can thoroughly recommend from the perspective of having worked together with him on a large ‘Passive House ‘ project.” Tony Rigg, Principal Architect on the Roebuck project at Kavanagh Tuite. Links: Construct Ireland Magazine article, See the Light 2011 Conference presentation, Kavanagh Tuite Architects

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XD Sustainable Energy Consulting Ltd

XD Consulting is an integrated sustainability consultancy providing multi-disciplinary advice and support in the area of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our mission is to “empower people, organisations and communities in making the transition to a low-carbon, resilient future”.